PHILADELPHIA -- It's not like the sky was going to fall, or the owner was going to pay a house call ... which could have amounted to the same thing. Instead, patience after a six-day training camp and a three-game losing streak to start the season should and would rule the day for the Flyers.

Of course, on the heels of a gritty, 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers Thursday night, that was an easy thing to say.

"I wouldn't say it was pressure," Jake Voracek said. "It was more a bad feeling. No one expected us to go 0-3, and we didn't play well, but we didn't play that badly. We knew if we kept playing hard, bounces would go our way and that's exactly what happened."

The bounces that went into the net were supplied by Voracek on a rebound and before that, by Wayne Simmonds' properly pointed skate. No kicking motion with that goal, just the right foot in the right place at the right time.

It added up to a payoff for the Flyers (1-3), who had dominated the Rangers over the first two periods and then counted on their penalty killers, goalie and the gods to hang on for not only their first victory of the season, but their first win over the Rangers in nearly two years.

Since Feb. 20, 2011, the hated Blueshirts had beaten the Flyers eight consecutive times. So considering the home team was facing the prospect of its worst start to a season -- or half-season -- in franchise history, and since Scott Hartnell (fractured foot, out 4-8 weeks), Danny Briere (wrist fracture) and Brayden Schenn (suspension) were out of the lineup, logic said they were staring at a ninth loss that might have meant their season lives.

Or not.

"We played good hockey tonight," goalie Ilya Bryzgalov noted while making the mandatory 18 saves. "We continue to play like this, we'll get lots of wins."

They continue to play under the gun like this, they might not last the short year.

But for this first victorious evening, a youthful and undergunned Flyers team played the only way it knew it had to -- with attention to defensive detail. That included a couple of heartwarming fights waged by rookie callups Tom Sestito and Tye McGinn, an outstanding two-way performance by Claude Giroux and consistent stinginess by the defense and by Bryzgalov.

In all, it was a real "Flyers Hockey" kind of win, yes?

"I don't know exactly what it means to say 'Flyers hockey,' but I like the way the team played tonight," Bryzgalov said.

It probably helped that the Rangers, also 1-3, had played into overtime Wednesday night before beating Boston at Madison Square Garden. But the Flyers were dominant in the opening period, though scoreless. The breakthrough finally came at 11:53 of the second, and after a wave of Flyers pressure finally wore on goalie Henrik Lundqvist (31 saves).

Matt Read dug a puck out of the corner and threw it to the point, where Nick Grossmann caught it, moved right then wristed it netward. It hit Rangers center Brad Richards and deflected off Simmonds' skate and in for 1-0.

Four minutes later, the Flyers cashed in on the power play. A Giroux bullet went wide, but bounced back into play. Sean Couturier chipped it toward the net, and it bounced off the post to Voracek, who slid home the rebound for all the goals the Flyers would need.

You know, since they had their fingers collectively crossed.

"Nobody wanted to be in the position that we were in," coach Peter Laviolette said. "The only way we were going to get out of it is if we go to work and try to fix things and continue to work and chip away."

They had to in the third period, which Braydon Coburn opened with a highsticking infraction, and the Rangers quickly took advantage.

Marian Gaborik gained the zone and slid a shot slotward. It was blocked in front, but Gaborik leaped on a rebound and found Taylor Pyatt alone at the corner of the net. A pass and Pyatt tap-in later, the Rangers had halved the lead.

That was followed by a questionable call on McGinn, whose stick went up while falling to the ice ... and he was whistled for a four-minute double minor penalty. Almost immediately, it went from bad to worse, as Grossmann was called for hooking.

That created a two-minute, two-man Rangers advantage in the middle of four minutes of Rangers power play. But the Broadway All-Stars would only manage one terrific scoring chance. On that, Bryzgalov was very fast in kicking away a point-blank one-timer by Rick Nash, preserving the lead.

Back in control, the Flyers protected well, especially after Lundqvist was pulled for the final minute. They did this without the services of defenseman Andrej Meszaros, who didn't play the final period due to an upper body injury that may be a re-do of his shoulder trouble.

Either way, the Flyers were left to scramble at the end, but held on.

"You saw how important (Giroux) is there, you know?" Voracek said. "He won four straight faceoffs then."

Now Giroux is facing a long-term loss of his top-line sidekick Hartnell. For starters, 40-year-old free agent Mike Knuble signed a 1-year, $750,000 deal to replace Hartnell's head-on presence on the power play.

How much that will help the Flyers is anybody's guess, but amid a 48-game scramble, no one has any time to ponder such answers.